LA Unified to spend $50M on computing devices

The Los Angeles Unified school district will spend $50 million in bond funds to equip every student at 47 schools with an individual tablet computer.

The school board voted Tuesday to supply devices to 31,000 students starting in the fall of 2013.

The vote was the first step in a program to spend a total of $500 million to provide every district student with an iPad or similar personal computing device by 2014. Los Angeles Unified is the nation's second-largest school system with more than 650,000 students.

Board President Monica Garcia says in a statement that the program will ensure low-income students have the same opportunities as more affluent ones in a technology-driven world.

The program also puts the district up to date with national curriculum standards.